Earlier this year, Ericka Lacayo, a popular Potrero Kids preschool teacher, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, an aggressive breast cancer. The cancer hasn’t metastasized, but requires aggressive treatment involving chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Lacayo began her leave of absence from Potrero Kids last month, after raising $20,000 as part of a GoFundMe campaign to support her and her family, aiming to collect $30,000 by the end of the year. On her last day teachers and staff wore pink at a lunch held to celebrate Lacayo.
“I do not want to say goodbye without first letting all of you know how blessed and fortunate I am to be part of this community,” said Lacayo.
“[Lacayo] has been with us 11 years. She is the longest-serving teacher,” said Rebecca Kee, Potrero Kids Head of School, who led the GoFundMe campaign. “And everyone knows she has the most beautiful classroom in the school. She is a total artist and maker of beautiful things.”
Lacayo is now at home with her husband and two adult children, limited in her movement as a small portal has been inserted in her chest to receive treatments. She can’t lift even moderately heavy objects or do physical activities, relying on her family for help.
“They are my right hands right now, because I cannot do much,” she said.
Lacayo’s classroom is decorated with handmade leaves and flowers, along with art her students made.
“She has been the lead teacher for that classroom for a long time, meaning that she is the mastermind for everything that happens in that room,” Kee said. “A lot of newer teachers had joined the school a couple of years ago, and they were struggling to learn how to implement what we call our project-based curriculum. I asked Ericka—because she’s such an expert in this area—and she prepared a full presentation. She showed up with papers and photos, and all of these detailed descriptions and wonderful advice. And the teachers were so excited that it launched a whole new wave of creativity at the school.”
Kee praises Lacayo for her work during the COVID-19 quarantine, keeping children engaged through learning circles and activities she provided over Zoom. Lacayo started her teaching career as a substitute in a Head Start program. At Potrero Kids, she worked with a diverse community of students and families.
“For me, it’s been a blessing personally and professionally, because I have been learning a lot from them. I feel very grateful because I feel that they believe in me and they have given me the chance to show my potential as a teacher,” Lacayo said. “I have made a lot of connections with my coworkers. I feel at this point that they are not just coworkers, they are my family,”
Lacayo moved to San Francisco about 25 years ago. Her daughter was only 10 months old. She was newly married, leaving behind her extended family in Nicaragua. She became interested in working with children because she was a young mother herself, who had to figure things out on her own, without her mom around. When her daughter started school, she gave birth to a son, who is on the autism spectrum.
“That is the way I started taking classes and getting interested in childhood development,” she said.
According to Kee another of Lacayo’s strengths is her candid communication style.
“If she sees a change that may have negative consequences, she has always come to me and said, ‘Hey, I have some concerns.’ She is always the type of person to come with a solution and with ideas. Based on how invested she has been and the big impact she’s made on my life by contributing so much to the school, it was an easy choice for me to want to give something back to her,” Kee said.
“I know it’s a rough time in my life, but I feel very grateful and very blessed,” Lacayo said. “I feel like I have all the support that I need; from my family, from Potrero Kids, and from my community. There are a lot of people that I don’t even know who are being here for me.”
To contribute to Ericka’s campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-teacher-ericka-fight-cancer
